CHAPTER 1. Formation [5820 - 5874]

ARTICLE 3. Election for Formation and Issuance of Bonds [5859 - 5874]

The board of supervisors shall make and have entered in the minutes an order finally determining the exterior boundaries of the district, the improvement or development work to be done in the harbor, and the estimated cost, and the incidental expenses.

The board shall pass a resolution calling an election for the purpose of submitting to the qualified voters the proposition of the formation of the district and incurring a bonded debt and issuing and selling bonds, to pay the cost of the improvement or development work, in a sum not greater than the estimated cost, and the incidental expenses as found by the board.

(a) Fix the date of the election which shall be not less than 130 days after the date of the passage of the resolution.

(b) Designate one or more voting precincts and generally describe the boundaries of each precinct.

(c) Designate a place within each precinct at which the polls will be opened for the purpose of the election on the date of the election.

(d) Appoint a board of election for each precinct, consisting of one inspector, one judge, and one clerk, each of whom shall be a registered elector of, and reside within, the precinct for which he or she is appointed.

(e) State the object and purposes for which the indebtedness is proposed to be incurred and the amount of the principal of the indebtedness.

(f) Recite a maximum rate of interest to be paid on indebtedness, not exceeding seven per cent per annum, payable semiannually.

The resolution shall also prescribe the manner of voting for or against the incurring of the indebtedness and for or against the formation of the district, and in all particulars not recited in the resolution or as otherwise provided for in this part, the election shall be held in accordance with the general election law of the state, so far as it is applicable, but it is not necessary to mail or send out sample ballots or precinct polling cards.

The resolution shall invite the qualified voters residing in the proposed district to vote upon the proposition by marking on the ballot opposite the proposition of the formation of the district and of the incurring of indebtedness thereby.

The ballot to be used at the election shall be substantially in the following form:

HARBOR DISTRICT

OFFICIAL BALLOT

Instructions to voters: To vote in favor of the formation of the harbor district and the incurring of the indebtedness thereby, mark in the voting area at the right of the words “For the harbor district.”

To vote against the formation of the harbor district and the incurring of the indebtedness thereby, mark in the voting area at the right of the words “Against the harbor district.”

All erasures and distinguishing marks are forbidden and make the ballot void. If you wrongly
stamp, tear, or deface this ballot, return it to the inspector of elections and obtain another.

PROPOSITION

“For the harbor district” (here set forth a general statement of the purposes for which the indebtedness is to be incurred, and the amount of the indebtedness).

“Against the harbor district” (here set forth a general statement of the purposes for which the indebtedness is to be incurred and the amount of the indebtedness).

On the day of the election the polls at each of the polling places designated by the board of supervisors shall be opened at the hour of seven o’clock a.m. and shall be kept opened until the hour of eight o’clock p.m. of the same day, when the polls shall be closed. Any elector within the polling place or standing in line thereat who has not had an opportunity to vote and desires to vote shall be permitted to vote after the hour of eight o’clock p.m. of the day of election.

When the polls are closed, the board of election in each precinct shall close the polls in accordance with the election laws of the state governing general elections, and deposit the ballots with the county elections official of the county in which the election is held.

The board of supervisors at its first regular meeting after the date of the election shall canvass the returns of the election, and shall have entered upon the minutes of the meeting a finding showing the number of votes cast in each precinct for the district and the incurring of the indebtedness, and the number of votes cast against the district and the incurring of the indebtedness, and the total number of votes cast in all the precincts for and against the harbor district and the incurring of the indebtedness.

If from the canvass it appears and the board of supervisors finds that a majority of the votes were not cast for the proposed district and the incurring of indebtedness thereby, it shall enter that fact upon its minutes, and no further proceedings shall be taken under the petition, but a new petition and notice may be signed, published, and filed and a new proceeding had after the expiration of one year from the date of the election.

If it appears and the board of supervisors finds that more than a majority of the votes cast at the election were cast for the district and the incurring of the indebtedness, it shall have that fact entered upon the minutes, together with a description of the boundaries of the district, its name, and the official name or names by which the district is commonly known, and enter an order declaring the district duly formed, and existing in the county in which the proceedings were had, and that an indebtedness of the district is authorized in the principal sum specified, to pay the cost of making the improvement or development, as set forth in the resolution.

The Secretary of State shall file the certificate in his or her office, and within five days thereafter shall execute under the great seal of the State, and transmit to the clerk of the board of supervisors of the county in which the proceedings were had, a certificate that a harbor district under the name set forth in the petition has been formed and exists in that county.

The clerk of the board of supervisors shall file the certificate in his or her office and upon the filing of the certificate of the Secretary of State in the office of the clerk of the board of supervisors, the formation of the district is complete, and an indebtedness is authorized in the sum specified in the resolution calling the election.

An action or proceeding shall not be maintained or prosecuted in any court whatever to test or to invalidate the formation of the district or the authorized indebtedness unless it is commenced in a court of competent jurisdiction within 60 days after the date of the filing of the certificate of the Secretary of State in the office of the clerk of the board of supervisors.